On the evening of Wednesday, August 15, the Democratic
National Convention made history by inviting an undocumented immigrant to
address the delegacy. Benita Veliz told the crowd how she came to the U.S. as a
young child but lived with the knowledge that she could be deported at any
time—until June 2012, when President Obama signed the DREAM Act, an executive
order granting temporary residency status to thousands of children of
immigrants. She praised Obama for his support of the Act, saying: “President
Obama has fought for my community.”

But just the previous day, a few blocks outside the
convention center, a group of undocumented immigrants had used their bodies and
voices to draw attention to what they say is Obama’s flawed and unjust
immigration record. That record includes about 1.1 million deportations, more
than any other president since the 1950s.

The riders take a calculated risk, facing
possible deportation but hoping that their courage will draw attention to their
cause.

The ten arrestees and dozens of others have been riding
around the country since late July, encouraging President Obama to decide what
he wants his immigration legacy to look like. They call their project the
“Undocubus,” and they travel in a bus painted a bright greenish-blue, and
decorated huge images of the monarch butterfly, a migratory species the riders
have adopted as their symbol.

The ride has functioned as both outreach and direct action,
connecting the riders with other communities and providing opportunities for
risky but highly visible actions, such as a July sit-in at the office of
anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoeniz, Arizona, which resulted in four
arrests of undocumented individuals. The riders take a calculated risk, facing
possible deportation but hoping that their courage will draw attention to their
cause.

“We're willing to take the risk for a change,” Natalie Cruz, an undocumented
rider from Phoenix, Arizona, said of the action. “We have to do anything to
survive.”

At around 3:30 pm on Tuesday, riders from the UndocBus gathered
on a sidewalk a few blocks from College Street, one of the main drags at the
convention. They were men and women, young adults and middle-aged people, even
children. They held cloth signs printed with monarch butterflies and the words “Migration
is a Human Right.” After a quiet march in the rain to the corner of College and
East 5th Street, the riders stepped into the center of the intersection, where
they knelt on a colorful banner that read “Sin Papeles, Sin Miedo” (“No
Papers, No Fear”) and held signs reading “Undocumented” above their heads.

Despite the rain, the riders created a proud and militant
spectacle. As delegates from the Democratic National Convention passed the
protest, leaving the CNN Grill or heading toward the Ritz Carlton, the riders
shared their stories in both English and Spanish. Other riders around them
chanted in support. They stayed put as police enclosed them with bicycles and
the rain became heavier, a mother and daughter in the group kneeling with their
arms around each other. After remaining in the street despite a bilingual
dispersal order by the police, they were handcuffed one at a time and placed
into police vans, where they continued to chant “Undocumented, unafraid!”

The civil disobedience in Charlotte was part of a series of
direct actions meant to put pressure on Obama and draw attention to injustices
of the current immigration policy. While the DREAM Act supports children of
immigrants, the riders say that is only part of the picture. “People need the
right to drive their children to school and not fear that they will be deported
along the way,” said Tania Unzueta, whose mom, dad, and sister were arrested at
the action. Many of those arrested were adults—parents and workers who spoke
about their experience of constant fear and their desire to live out in the
open.

Despite 18 arrests since their tour
began, there have been no deportations. By making deportation both visible and
political, the riders have put Obama and ICE in a difficult position.

The UndocuBus riders emphasize the importance of community
support as a form of advocacy. Since undocumented individuals face arrest every
day just by driving to the store or going to work, the stakes are already high.
Acts of civil disobedience make such arrests more visible. When all ten
arrestees were released the following morning without being processed by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the UndocuBus crew took it as
another victory on their tour, tweeting, “We know this is not the norm, that
every day [they] separate families.”

Despite 18 arrests of UndocuBus riders since their tour
began, there have been no deportations. By making deportation both visible and
political, they have put Obama and ICE in a difficult position; so far, these officials
seem uninterested in deporting widely publicized civil rights activists before
and during the convention.

As the DNC continues into its third day, the speakers made
it clear that Obama plans to champion his immigration record, focusing
specifically on young “Dreamers.” For the people on the UndocuBus, though,
Obama’s policy still leaves many vulnerable to deportation and guarantees the
continued separation of families.

On Tuesday, as Julian Castro became the first Latino to
deliver a keynote address at the DNC, Unzueta’s family was still in jail. “Will
he be the president who deported the most people in U.S. history,” she asked of
Obama, “or will he recognize the dignity of people like us?”

Interested?

Beyond the Supreme Court: For immigrant communities in Arizona and beyond, the struggle against draconian laws begins at home.

Progressive social
movements don’t often take inspiration from conservative megachurches.
But their lessons about organizational structure may be worth a second
look.

Arizona's 2010 immigration law awakened a sleeping giant.

Molly Knefel wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions. She is a writer, comic, and co-host of Radio Dispatch, a progressive political podcast that airs Monday through Thursday. Listen at www.theRadioDispatch.com and follow her on Twitter at @mollyknefel.